Jonric: The character system includes facets called Attributes, Abilities and Disciplines. How would you outline them and your implementation? To what degree are they clan-specific?

Leonard Boyarsky: As with character creation, we've tried to stick as close to the pen and paper as possible in terms of the "stats" each character has available. All clans have Attributes, Abilities and Disciplines. The Attributes are available to all clans, and are grouped into Physical, Mental and Social. The Physical are things like Strength and Dexterity, the Mental are things like Perception and Intelligence, and the Social are things like Appearance and Charisma.

Likewise, the Abilities are available to all clans, and are grouped into Skills, Knowledges, and Talents. Skills are things like Firearms and Melee, Knowledges are things like Investigation and Occult, and Talents are things like Brawl and Intimidation. As mentioned before, in character creation, each clan is given a different amount of points to spend in each Attribute and Ability category, so this may affect the path a player's character is built upon, but all Attributes and Abilities are available to all clans throughout the game. The only things specific to each clan are their Disciplines. The Disciplines are each clan's vampiric powers - some clans share a Discipline, but each has its own distinct set of three - no two clans have the same three Disciplines.

Jonric: Are there other important aspects like advantages and weaknesses? And to what extent does the choice of clan dictate or encourage a particular style of gameplay?

Leonard Boyarsky: The success of things players do in the game is based on Feats, which are a combination of an Attribute and Ability. For instance, the Ranged Combat Feat is based on the player's Firearms Skill and his Perception Ability.

Advantages and weaknesses are called Merits and Flaws in the White Wolf system, and we've combined these into optional histories, each of which will give players a bonus and a negative to their character.

As far as the varied styles of gameplay, that has a lot to do with how players choose to build their characters throughout the game. Even though players are given a specific distribution of points to begin with, they can build their character in ways counter to each clan's stereotype if they so desire, although it will make the game more difficult.

Jonric: For the sake of completeness, while you already gave some examples of the character attributes in Vampire: The Masquerade, what are the others?

Leonard Boyarsky: The basic character Attributes are split into three categories - Physical, Social and Mental. The Physical Attributes are Strength, Dexterity, and Stamina. The Social Attributes are Charisma, Manipulation, and Appearance. Finally, the Mental Attributes are Perception, Intelligence, and Wits.

Jonric: Would you care to expand a little on Disciplines, perhaps by giving some examples? As well, how do they work, and can they be improved in any way?

Leonard Boyarsky: Disciplines are each clan's vampiric powers. As I mentioned earlier, each clan has its own distinct set of Disciplines. For instance, the Brujah have Celerity (super speed), Potence (super strength) and Presence (creating awe in those who like you and fear in those who don't).

The Disciplines are powered by the player's blood pool, which they will need to replenish by feeding. At character creation, players are given the option to put points into any or all of the three Disciplines unique to their clan.

Jonric: What are traits and how do they work? Will Bloodlines implement any modifications vs. pen and paper Vampire: The Masquerade?

Leonard Boyarsky: Traits are simply Attributes, Abilities and Disciplines as outlined in the overview above.

The only modifications we've made to the Traits are ones that are needed to make the conversion from pen and paper to a fun computer game. For instance, we've modified combat to make it fun in real time and to make sure it gives adequate feedback to the player.

Jonric: Vampire: The Masquerade has a hierarchical structure from neonates to ancillae, elders, primogen and prince. To what degree will this be seen in Bloodlines, and will the player character be able to advance?

Leonard Boyarsky: Generation (how far a vampire is removed from the original vampire) determines power and hierarchy in Vampire: The Masquerade. Players start fairly high in generation, and are therefore fairly low in power and prestige.

The hierarchical power structure of the Camarilla is the very basis of Bloodlines. The formerly Anarch city of L.A. has been taken over by a prince, and all the politics that come with that change. Players are tossed right into the middle of this intrigue at the very beginning of the game.

Since Bloodlines takes place over the course of a few nights, players don't advance in age, and there's no diablerie (feeding on other vampires), so there's no changing generation that way.

Jonric: How does character advancement happen in Bloodlines? How much can starting characters vary within the same clan, and how much more can they differ by the end of the game?

Leonard Boyarsky: Character advancement happens through the distribution of character points, which are earned by successfully completing quests (and a few other things as mentioned above). Therefore, players can improve in any way they see fit to distribute their points. Starting characters of the same clan can vary a bit at the start of the game, again, depending on where players spend their points, but can (and probably will) diverge greatly over the course of the game depending on what they choose to emphasize in their character. For instance, players could start with a Brujah and instead of spending their initial points for their Talents Ability on something like Brawl, they could spend them on Subterfuge, which factors into Persuasion and Seduction Feats. Then, throughout the game, players could concentrate on making a Brujah that had a suave, persuasive side.

Since we weren't involved in any brawling while securing this edifying interview, perhaps it was our suave, persuasive side that bought it about, or our Presence. :) No matter what circumstances led up to it, we're very happy that Leonard Boyarsky was willing to tell us about the character element in the Vampire: The Masquerade property as well as its implementation in Bloodlines. We thank him for doing so, and hope we can use Celerity to learn more about the game in the not too distant future.